Nevertheless the days crawled by. Josh was allowed
to see Justin if he’d just tell them when he would leave and when he would be
back. Simple as that. Josh slowly got accustomed to his new home. He still
wished he wouldn’t have to be here but for now; it was the way it was and he
couldn’t change it. There was not much trouble at all, he hung out with Louisa,
he went to work, dropped in on his brother once in a while and all without many
incidents. A few weeks went by calmly but trouble was just around the corner.
***
Josh
opened the door, he’d finally gotten a key, seeing the house was pretty much
dark he slipped inside. He crossed the hall quickly, eager to get upstairs
without being seen. A light suddenly flicked on, startling Josh immensely.
“It’s
2am” a calm voice stated although Josh spotted a bit of anger in the voice.
He’d told them he would be home before midnight. Dan stood showingly, Josh
watched him a little fearful.
“You
said you would be home before midnight”
“I
know”
“Then
where the hell were you?” Dan asked, taunting in his voice.
“I
was with Justin I told you”
“Yes
but you also told us you’d be home before midnight”
“I
really was with Justin, I didn’t go anywhere else I just… fell asleep” Josh
admitted sheepishly. He hadn’t meant to stay out so long.
“What?”
Dan questioned.
“I
didn’t mean to,” Josh said apologetically, at the same time defensively. “We
were watching a movie and I fell asleep, him too. We didn’t wake till half an
hour ago”
“Go
to your room” Dan ordered.
Josh
frowned; Dan was acting like he was his father.
“You
speak as if you’re grounding me” Josh noted.
Dan
said nothing.
“I’m
grounded?” Josh asked preposterously.
“I’m
a grown man and you are not my father. You can’t ground me” Josh said
convinced.
Dan
could not ground him!
This
was outrageous!
“I
can do whatever I want” Dan countered.
“I
told you that if you played by the rules you could go see your brother. All you
had to do was tell us when you’d be leaving and when you’d be back…”
“I
did!” Josh argued.
“But
you weren’t home on the time you’d given us”
“I
fell asleep!” he shrieked. Dan slapped him across the face a second after the
last word left his mouth.
“I
don’t care. I told you to play by the rules and you choose to ignore them so
now you’ll suffer the consequences” Josh stared dumbly, cupping his cheek; this
was so not happening.
“W…what
consequences?”
“I
won’t allow you to go see your brother”
“What?
Never again!? But you can’t do…” Josh asked in shock, anger immediately taking
over as he assumed to know the answer. Dan held up a hand to silence him.
“Not
never again. For a while anyway. If you show me I can trust you I’ll allow you
your visits again but come up with some good excuses to tell you brother till
then”
“B…
but for how long?” Dan shrugged.
“I’m
not sure yet. We’ll see” he smirked before walking away.
“Good
night Josh” he called over his shoulder, the chuckle apparent in his voice.
Josh’s shoulders slumped; this was so not happening.
***
Almost
a week after Dan had told him he couldn’t see his brother for a while Josh
wandered out into the living room, seeking Dan out for the first time. He knew
Justin had had a test and he always asked him how it went, this time however he
couldn’t and if Dan wouldn’t let him go see him, he hoped he at least would let
him call him.
“Dan?”
Josh asked nervously as he stood in front of him in the living room, hoping Dan
wouldn’t get mad if he interrupted his show.
“Yes?”
Dan acknowledged staring up at the young man with a smug grin.
“Um…
I… I was wondering if… if I could… call my brother” Josh stuttered his
question.
“Uh-uh”
Dan shook his head no. Josh’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“Dan
please he had an important test. I haven’t talked to him in almost a week!”
Josh said with a hint of a whine in his voice. He’d spent the whole week with
Louisa, that was when she wanted to spend time with him. He’d let her and he
thought he’d deserved to talk to Justin but Dan obviously didn’t agree with
him.
“That’s
not my problem” Dan shrugged. Josh’s anger boiled up; he did everything they
asked and he got nothing! He couldn’t even call his brother for a few minutes.
“Asshole”
Josh mumbled as he turned and walked away. Dan stood before him in a matter of
seconds.
“What
did you say to me?” Dan demanded challenging.
“I
said asshole” Josh repeated without hesitation; his anger talking. Dan drew his
fist back and punched Josh in the stomach, he immediately doubled over in pain.
Dan smirked as he heard the groans emitting from the young man, then pulled him
back up.
“You
don’t ever call me asshole again or I’ll show you what a real asshole I can be,
understood?”
The
threat was clear; Josh nodded fearfully.
“Just
please, all I want is… to talk to him for few minutes” Josh breathed.
“Why
would I give you that privilege?” Dan asked, it wasn’t a rhetorical question at
least Josh thought it wasn’t.
“Because…
I already do everything you want” Josh said sounding certain; it was true.
Dan
nodded, stroking his beard in thought.
“Okay
you can call him but we’ll be listening to every word you say and you’ll notice
when you said something you shouldn’t have”
Josh
nodded; eagerly; he would get to call Justin!
“I
might let you call more often if you’re a good boy” Dan patronized, patting
Josh’s cheek a little too harshly but Josh took it; he got to call Justin and
maybe more than once!
“Matt!”
Dan called for the bodyguard. The big man came quickly.
“Yes
boss?”
“Josh
is allowed to talk to his brother for a little while, would you be so kind as
to accompany him?” Dan asked politely.
“Yes
sir” Matt nodded before waving to Josh to come to him. Josh slowly walked to
the hallway and stood next to the big man.
“Wait
here” Matt instructed before he walked to Dan.
Josh
watched the two as they consulted, knowing he wasn’t meant to hear it, he would
probably find out what they’d discussed later.
Matt
nodded one final time before he stretched and walked back to Josh, leading the
way to Dan’s office. Matt pushed Josh in a chair and sat down opposite of him,
the horn was held out to him as Matt pressed speaker button; making sure he’d
be able to hear every word. Josh sighed but dialed quickly, praying he wouldn’t
say the wrong thing.
“Justin”
his younger brother answered casually.
“Hey
Justin” Josh smiled happy he heard his brother’s voice.
“Josh!”
Justin exclaimed surprised.
“I
was beginning to worry about you man!”
“No
need Justin. I… I’m fine”
“Where
are you anyway. I haven’t seen you in over a week!” Josh met Matt’s warningful
gaze.
“I’ve
been with Louisa, we hung out and stuff” Josh cringed at the lie and could
almost see the frown on his younger brother’s face.
“Hey
how was your test?” Josh asked quickly, changing the subject. The Louisa
subject could get him in trouble with Matt sitting so close.
“Oh
um... it was okay, I think I passed it”
“Good”
Josh said proudly.
“It
was pretty easy”
“That’s
good” Matt made the cut off signal and Josh almost killed him with his look; it
hadn’t even been five minutes but the look he was being given was inescapable.
He sighed defeated.
“Justy,
I gotta go”
“Already?”
“Yeah…
Louisa is waiting for me. I’ll talk to you later kay?”
“Kay”
Justin sighed. Josh could hear he was disappointed.
“I’ll
call you soon”
“You
can always drop by you know”
“I
know, we’ll see” he said, maybe a bit sadder than planned.
“Kay
well bye”
“Bye”
Justin responded; that was strange.
“Good
boy” Matt patronized, patting his cheek. They didn’t say anything about
visiting but Josh left it, maybe later.
“Now
go find Louisa, she’s probably waiting for you”
“Kay”
Josh sighed before getting up and walking out the door.
A
little smile appeared; he might have to spend time with Louisa again but at
least he’d talked to his brother. Feeling a little better he went back to his
duty; pretending he liked Louisa.
***
Matt
of course reported back to Dan who was pleased with the obedience of his new
project. It had been a while since Dan had grounded Josh and with this
behavior he had a feeling he could unground him very soon.
He
didn’t like to let Josh visit his brother because it was a risk, there was
always the risk that someone would find out, especially Josh’s brother who
seemed to know Josh very well, but he knew Josh was right when he said it would
look suspicious when he wouldn’t come over on the whole. That was the reason,
the only reason, he would let Josh leave the house but Dan had it all under
control. Louisa really liked Josh and Dan wasn’t going to let him slip.
This
one was hers to keep.
Josh
tried to do everything to the best of his ability. It had been another week and
he knew Justin was getting irritated. Justin had called several times but Josh
told him every time that he was busy and he would end the conversation with the
encouraging message that he would see him soon. It was more an encouraging
message for Josh himself because this sucked. He was either at work or with
Louisa and he’d always liked his job but he now loved it. Every second he could
be at work he wouldn’t have to spend it with Louisa.
“Dan
when can I see him again?”
“Soon”
he replied vaguely.
“That’s
not an answer!” Josh exclaimed frustrated. Dan twirled around suddenly, glaring
at the young man.
“If
I say it’s an answer; it’s an answer”
Josh
swallowed, then nodded.
“But
I proved to you, you can trust me, have I not?” Dan seemed to ponder the
question.
“I
went to work and came back straight after”
Dan
nodded.
“Then
why can’t I go see him?”
Dan
sighed. “Okay... you have been a good boy yes. I’ll allow you to go see him…
Thursday”
Josh
nodded acceptingly. “Thank you” he said gratefully.
***
Josh
was excited when it finally was Thursday and he left the house to go to Justin.
It was like he could breathe again; he’d been worried and he was still worried
but once he’d arrived at Justin’s place it was gone.
Justin
was really happy to see him and after he’d told Justin that he’d been really
busy at work and with Louisa things went back to how they always were. They
talked, watched TV and just simply hung out. Josh loved it, it hadn’t always
been like this of course. When they were teenagers they fought a lot but it
never seemed as much and as bad as when they heard stories from friends,
telling them how they’d fought with their brother. They’d not always gotten
along so well but once they’d gotten older their friendship grew and also their
bond grew stronger. He was grateful he had a brother who he could hang out
with, who at the moment could totally take his mind off of his current
situation. God knew he needed it. But he also knew that he’d have to go back
again. And he had to go back in time. He made sure he didn’t fall asleep.
He
made sure he was home in time before his… well curfew. He hated it but he had
to, once again for one reason; to protect Justin who was still unaware of the
danger he was in.
